Random videos of Layla

I feel like I haven't posted videos of L in awhile and I've been meaning to post these for a LOOOONG time. So since I have a minute, I'll just post them in one short blog.

This video was taken of our new video monitor. It has been 2 weeks (again) since L has taken a nap. This is what she normally does:

And this video was taken several weeks ago. Layla loves to be chased around the house and Bryan decided to start scaring her with her big stuffed monkey. This is hilarious...and just a typical "relaxing" evening at the Bartons:

Layla's special package

Layla and I got very special notes in the mail yesterday. I took a video to document the occasion:

How sweet are Nicole and Ben for asking Layla to be their flower girl?! And asking me to be her Matron of Honor?! We are SO excited to be a part of their wedding and hope we can live up to our titles. ;o)

I can't believe that L is even old enough to be a flower girl. The wedding isn't until next fall (L will be almost 4 WOW) but we are going to start practicing soon! I want her to be the greatest flower girl EVER.

Dinner with the Bartons

Due to Layla's past eating issues, we always try to have FUN when we eat. On today's menu- tater tot casserole with a side of class for Mommy and Daddy and plain Ramon noodles, Life cereal, yogurt covered raisins and a few Veggie Straws for Layla. What a nutritious bunch of nutters we are.

Layla was doing her typical "I don't want to eat" business so Bryan told that he would help her take 5 more bites of noodles and she could have a peanut M&M. Why my 2 year old will eat a peanut M&M but not a strawberry is beyond me but if it gets her to eat, I don't care if it is a chocolate covered cheeseburger.

What started out as a simple Daddy feeding baby Layla game quickly turned into Layla pretending that she is blind and trying to eat from a ferris wheel holding a spoon full of dangling noodles game. I took a video for your viewing pleasure:

She took her 5 bites and then it was M&M time! Since she didn't whine or scream about it...she got 2! Here she is thanking Daddy for her candy:

And here she is trying to wink at the camera. LOL

And here she is having a "Mommy moment". That is trying to wink at the camera and she fell off her chair.

So after she fell off her chair it was time to show off. First we decided to ask her what her name was...then we decided to ask her to sing her ABC's. She decides to combine the two and sing "Layla Barton" to the tune of ABC's at one point. I love this girl:

And just so everyone knows, we have a new routine in this house. Layla is back to sitting in her own chair (there for awhile ALL she wanted to do was sit on one of our laps UGH) but now we have to have the monkey sit with us.

And now it is bath time...and you don't even want to know what kind of wild things we do for bath! Haha!

Easter Weekend

Thursday afternoon we made the looooong trip to IL for Easter weekend! I was a little worried about L because this was the first long trip we've made being potty trained. She did great and used the potty at every single stop with only a few accidents in the car (she was in a diaper because I was not about to clean a car seat on the side of the interstate).

I thought that traveling would get easier as L gets older...but it is turning out to be a little bit more stressful. Besides the potty training stuff, Layla is now MUCH more vocal about her needs. And by this I mean she was asking for help with something every 2 minutes the ENTIRE trip...without a nap. So for 7 hours it was like we had Porky Pig in the backseat "I nee...I nee...I nee...I need help". It is pretty funny now. :)

We also took the dogs this trip. Normally they are OK in the car after we get out of town. On the way down, they decided to escape at a rest stop and ran around the parking lot with me chasing after them. That was fun. On the way home to MI, they decided to spill Bryan's coffee all over my pillow...that was really fun too.

Layla really needed to stretch her legs after the trip down so on Friday we headed to the park. Brock and Jessie were in town AND Aunt Ralie came to visit so we had a WONDERFUL time!

Layla loved playing on the swings with Grandma:

And going down the big slide all my herself! What a dare devil!

We miss Aunt Ralie!!

My family taking up all the playground equipment

Uncle Brock and Aunt Jessie teaching L how to make a wish. 

We spend Saturday with the Barton's. Bryan's Grandmas and a few other members of the fam drove up to see us which was SOOOO nice and very much appreciated! Layla was NOT in a very good mood when we first got there. But as soon as the kids started playing outside, she cheered up.

Typical "Oscar the Grouch" Layla and Mommy.

Layla had SO much fun playing with her cousins. Here they are getting ready to hunt Easter eggs. 

She got SO into hunting eggs this year. It was so much fun to watch!

Kisses for little A. This is HUGE improvement from Xmas when all she did was hit and shove her. LOL

Layla showing off her "catch"

Aren't these guys the CUTEST cousins?! PS- I love Grayden's pose and Layla's face here. LOL

On Sunday (Easter) we spent ALL day running around and hunting Easter eggs! L woke up at Grandma and Grandpa Mudd's house to find an Easter bucket right outside her door!

Check out that hair!

After getting ready we went outside to see what else the Easter bunny left. 

Showing off some of her goods

She loved flying her new kite!

Next stop was Great Grandma and Paw Paw "Bawk Bawks". The Easter Bunny came here too!! In Layla's words "that silly Easter Bunny!"

Layla's bucket was getting so full and heavy that Paw Paw had to help carry!

Coloring eggs. This was fun until L decided the eggs needed to start dive bombing into the dye. And that was the end of that.

Finally we headed over to Great Grandma and Grandpa Underwood's. Layla got to see Uncle Brock and Aunt Jessie one more time before they headed back to NYC. And spend some time with Paw Paw U!

One last picture...fail.

Hunting eggs again and handing them to her Paw Paws

Aunt Susie showed Layla how to carry them in her dress. That lasted 2 seconds. ;o)

Opening her eggs with Aunt Susie. She tried to take Susie's $$!

On Monday we headed home. Here is Layla getting ready to open the door to see if the Easter Bunny came.

And these are the only pics I got because we were so exhausted. Please note the wild hair, mismatched clothing and grubby face. Evidence of a wild car ride back home.

We loved seeing everyone this weekend! We can't WAIT to see everyone again soon. We love and MISS YOU Uncle Brock and Aunt Jessie!!!

Layla's choice fashion accessory

Layla has been picking out her clothes for the last few weeks. She first looks for anything with a butterfly on it...then anything pink. One of her "must have" accessories is her silver sparkle belt. She does not want to wear it properly...she wants to wear it outside of the loops and even with sweat pants. My brother had a red belt that he wore EVERY SINGLE DAY when he was around her age and I'm pretty sure that phase lasted a LONG time. LOL...so once again, I think Layla was either meant to be Uncle Brock's child or this is payback for all the times I was mean to him (which obviously was not very often).

My Mom found a scanned copy of Brock's "red belt picture"!! Here it is:

Another thing that Layla has been obsessing over is my shower routine. This started at about 18 months when I started letting her play with our Ipad so I could jump in the shower. It has now turned into a full fledged event...she has to have the Ipad, her milk, a snack, her babies, her blankies, her soccer ball, tea cup and a peacock puppet. I have no idea what she does with all this stuff but she sits on our bed the whole time I'm getting ready and hates to get up. They all have to be lined up correctly and if I place something in the "wrong" spot she says "no Mommy...HERE" and fixes it. OCD much?